I cut down a few trees lately for several clients. I promised them that I would not take it to the land fill, I would use it as fire wood or use it to make some bows.
I have live oak, crape myrtle, red oak, red bud, bradford pear, and sweet gum. All are at least a foot in diameter except the crape myrtle which is about 3-4 inches in diameter.
Does anyone have any experience with crape myrtle or live oak?
I've made many red oak bows, but I've never tried bradford pear. I have a hard time splitting bradford pear for fire wood not to mention a six foot length of it.
I never really thought of sweet gum as a bow wood, but it is very plentiful around here. Has anyone worked with sweet gum?
What is the strangest wood that anyone has ever used in bow making?
The oddest wood that I have ever worked with is some type of olive wood from a pallet. It did not turn out very well due to the excessive number of nail holes. I used a 25 year old sledge hammer handle to make a spliced bow that turned out nice.